Southern CA Saltwater

Long Range Report: Guadalupe remains the focus

BY GUNDY GUNDERSON/Special to Western Outdoor NewsPublished: Oct 10, 2017

The big island giveth, and taketh away

SAN DIEGO — With the quality of fish swimming around Guadalupe Island, it is impossible for a long range skipper, in his right mind, not to take a swing at it. But a swing is what it often is — sometimes you make contact, other times you may whiff. But at the very least, each boat does take home a sample in varying degrees. And a trophy mossback yellowtail has also been in the offing. File it under “it is better to have loved and lost than to not have loved at all.”

Indy finishes at the big island

A BRACE OF trophy tuna caught aboard the Indy.

The Independence finished up the Kimura 8-Day Trip with a swing into Guadalupe Island. Capt. Jeff DeBuys made the move that served to fill out the jackpot. First place went to Ted Prohov with a 140-pound yellow­fin tuna; 2nd place went to David Knecht with a 132-pound yellowfin tuna; and 3rd place was Peter Koga with a 131-pound yellowfin. Jerry Watkins earned honorable mention with another 140-pound yellowfin.

The skipper commented, “We had an awesome time out there fishing every day and a great catch to show for the effort. Beautiful weather as well. Naturally, we also had some heartbreaks associated with this fishery. A huge thanks to Gary Kimura and everyone who made the trip such a huge success this year.”

Shogun at the ’Lupe

A GIANT GUADALUPE yellowtail landed on the Shogun.

The Shogun was on the Roy Kato Memorial trip and the destination was Guadalupe Island. The boat filed this report, “We finished the first day with no fish on the boat but had excellent bait making right after dinner. The first morning, waking up found us battling wind and strong current but we managed to pick at a few yellowtail. The yellowtail fishing slowed down as our current subsided and we left in search of tuna. We found them not too far away and were immediately given a good showing of boils and jumpers. We started hooking fish on 60-pound but were dismayed at the rate the fish were being lost. Capt. Rene urged anglers not to use less than 80-pound line. As we switched gears to 80- and 100-pound line, we started landing fish. We fished into the dark and made our bait easily again right after dinner where we ended our day.”

The report continued, “This was our routine the next few days. Waking up fishing yellowtail for the first few hours of the day and then focusing on tuna in the afternoon. We managed between 25 and 50 yellows every morning and 10 to 15 tuna every afternoon. Our yellowtail were mixed grade, mostly 18 to 30 pounders, however, we managed to land several ’tails while tuna fishing that were over 50 pounds. Two of our yellowtail could break the 70-pound mark. The tuna were averaging 100 pounds with a few 70 pounders and some as large as 140. We ended the trip with 111 yellowtail, and 45 yellowfin tuna.”

Angler at the ’Lupe

The American Angler began their 8-Day Open Trip with good fishing on the ridge. To finish the trip, the boat steered toward Guadalupe Island. The boat sent this report after day one, summing up the frustration of the island: “After arriving to our final desti­na­tion, it became apparent real fast that things were not going to be easy. We saw plenty of fish, at times, that didn’t bite amongst other obstacles and the adversity grew larger and larger as the day went on. As fisherman, we all dug deep and kept our chins up high because visiting places like this are not only a treat but also a world of emotions, and today we saw both highs and lows. With a handful of trophies hitting the deck today, we can only hope for greater success tomorrow.”

Intrepid on big yellows

The Intrepid was down on the Ridge in search of wahoo but open to any piscatorial intervention. The boat with Capt. Bill Cavanaugh at the wheel sent this report on a pleasant surprise, “We arrived at our destination shortly before 1000 this morning. After looking around with the troll jigs, we were able to pick up just one wahoo. Come lunch time, we set up for yellowtail and we started hooking fish almost right away. The first one to hit the deck went about 35 pounds. After that it was very steady action with one to five fish going most of the afternoon. All of these yellows were 30 to 50 pounds with the largest one going 51 pounds on the hand scale. Impressive. Most of the guys were having the best success fishing the dropper loop rig and a few guys did well on the yo-yo jig. Good action with a number of guys catching their personal best yellowtail today.”

RP on the Ridge

WAHOO BINGO FOR anglers aboard the RP.

The Royal Polaris was also down on the ridge on the annual Shimano 10-Day. Capt. Jonathan Yamate at the helm. After a scratch start, the boat found its bearing. “Well, good things come to those who wait,” Yamate said. “After yesterday, things improved for us. We started on the lower end of the ridge, with no luck. We then made a 25-mile move, and the move paid off. We had an excellent day on wahoo and yellowfin tuna. The wahoo were in the 25- to 45-pound range, with the yellowfin in two groups — one was the 12- to 25-pound class, and the rest were in the 25- to 40-pound range. We will give this another try.”